CREW

Written by

Mark Gatiss

Directed by

Douglas Mackinnon

Produced by

Denise Paul & Marcus Wilson

sypnosis

The Doctor and Clara land on a damaged Russian Submarine in 1983 as it spirals out of control into the ocean depths. An alien creature is loose on board, having escaped from a block of Arctic ice. With tempers flaring and a cargo of nuclear weapons on board, it’s not just the crew but the whole of humanity at stake!

NOTES

1983 was indeed a point in which the the Cold War could have very easily run hot, due to the (alluded to) Able Archer ’83 exercises that terrified the already paranoid Soviets. There were even several close calls throughout the year, including one famous incident where only the cool head of a Soviet radar operator deciding that The missile that appeared on his screen was not a launch but most likely an equipment malfunction prevented a full-scale nuclear launch.

All camera shots featuring the exterior of the submarine under the water were made using scale models in front of a blue screen.

This story’s ending has some similarities to Battlefield. In both stories the antagonist is prepared to launch a nuclear weapon to destroy the world (in Battlefield it is Morgaine), and in both cases The Doctor helps talk them out of it.

This is the first televised story to feature the Ice Warriors since the Monster of Peladon in 1974, and the first to not be written or co-written by Brian Hayles.

Clara questions how she can understand others around her, and they understand her, to which the Doctor explains how the TARDIS translates foreign and alien languages